Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett Cuts Back on Consumer Goods Stocks

Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) (BRKB), has cut back on a few consumer goods stocks. According to recent filings, Buffett has reduced holdings in Procter & Gamble (PG) and Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (KRFT). In addition, although not a true consumer goods company, Berkshire Hathaway lightened up on Johnson and Johnson (JNJ).

Buffett is still maintaining his current positions in dozens of other stocks. As a matter of fact, he owns over 35 stocks, according to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, over 25 of which are dividend paying stocks.

One of his holdings is General Dynamics (GD), the aerospace and defense company, which trades at 9.5 times trailing earnings and 8.7 times forward earnings. The stock pays quarterly and yields 3.3%. Earlier this year, the company raised its dividend by 8.5%. Earnings for the latest quarter were down 8% on a 1% rise in revenues.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is another stock owned by Buffett. The stock trades at 13.8 times trailing earnings and 11.4 times forward earnings, with a yield of 1.8%. Earnings were flat for the latest quarter on a 5.4% drop in sales. It pays a decent yield of 1.8%.

Other holdings include Torchmark Corp (TMK), the insurance company, that trades at 10 times earnings and yields 1.2%, US Bancorp (USB) yielding 2.5%, and Wal Mart Stores Inc (WMT), which pays a yield of 2.3%.

For a free list of all the Warren Buffett stocks, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author didn't own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

No comments: